Bryan Bullington
Bryan Paul Bullington is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Bullington was the first overall selection in the 2002 Major League Baseball draft. In Major League Baseball, he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, and Kansas City Royals. He also played in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Hiroshima Carp and the Orix Buffaloes.
High school career
During his senior year at Madison Consolidated High School, Bullington was 15–0, and pitched a one-hit game to win the 1999 Indiana High School Athletic Association Baseball State Finals. Bullington was named Mr. Baseball for the state of Indiana in 1999; an award presented annually to the best high school baseball player in Indiana. Bullington was drafted in the 37th round of the 1999 Major League Baseball draft by the Kansas City Royals, but decided not to sign and attended college instead. He was recruited by Ball State, Purdue, Evansville, and Indiana.College career
2000
Bullington decided to follow both his parents and older sister in attending Ball State. During his freshman season, an injury to staff ace Justin Wechsler allowed Bullington to become the Friday night starter. He went 9–4 with a 3.83 ERA during his freshman year, tallying a Mid-American Conference season-high 99 strikeouts. He was named the MAC Freshman of the Year and received first-team all-conference honors.2001
With Bullington atop the rotation, the Cardinals put together a great 2001 season, going 21–5 in the Mid-American Conference and winning the regular season title. Bullington went 9–3 during the regular season with a conference-best 3.01 ERA, and was honored as a unanimous choice for MAC's Pitcher of the Year, becoming the first Cardinal to win the award. Bullington started the Cardinals opening game of the conference tournament against Miami University, but was removed in the first inning after being struck in the face by a line drive off the bat of Brady Nori. The Cardinals were upset by the RedHawks 13–5. Despite his injury, Bullington came back and pitched 3 days later in their semi-final game against Kent State. He was tagged for 10 hits and seven earned runs over six innings, taking the loss and eliminating the Cardinals from the tournament. Despite his rough finish, he ended the season with a 9–4 record and a 3.50 ERA. Most notably, his 119 strikeouts on the season led the conference once again and broke Ball State's all-time single season strikeout record. He went on to pitch for the U.S. National Team that summer.2002
Coming into his junior season, Bullington was touted as one of the best collegiate pitchers in the country. In his third start of the season, he tossed 8 strong innings in a winning effort over the defending National Champion and 17th ranked Miami Hurricanes. On May 3, Bullington struck out a career-high 15 batters against Eastern Michigan, surpassing Bob Owchinko for the most career strikeouts in MAC history. He allowed only five hits and a run over eight innings en route to his ninth win of the season. He finished the regular season with a 10–2 mark and a conference-best 2.11 ERA. Bullington and the Cardinals were seeded fourth in the conference tournament and slated to face Kent State in their opening game. However, for the second consecutive year, the Golden Flashes had Bullington's number in the tournament, scoring six runs off him in the first inning on their way to a 13–4 win. The Cardinals went on to advance to the championship, where they met undefeated Kent State again three days later. In an effort to avoid a repeat of the first game, Coach Rich Maloney chose to bring Bullington out of the bullpen in relief. Bullington entered the game in the fourth inning and allowed five earned runs over six innings. Despite the rough outing, it was enough to earn him his career-high 11th win of the season, thanks to 16 runs of support. Bullington finished 11–3 with a conference-best ERA of 2.86 for the year, and broke his own single season strikeout record with 139 strikeouts. He finished the season leading the MAC in wins, ERA, strikeouts, and innings pitched for the 2002 season. He recorded double-digit strikeouts in eight of his starts. He was once again named the MAC's Pitcher of the Year, becoming the first player to win the honor in consecutive seasons, and received first-team all-conference honors for the third consecutive season. Nationally, he was unanimously recognized as a First-Team All-American and named a finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy. After being drafted first overall, he decided to forgo his senior season and sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He left Ball State as the winningest pitcher in school history. He still holds the school records for most career wins, most single-season strikeouts, most career strikeouts, and tied for most single-season wins. As of 2012, he holds the Mid-American Conference record in career strikeouts and single-season strikeouts. He is one of only twelve players to be named first-team All-MAC for three consecutive seasons. In 2010, the Ball State Daily News named Bullington the third best athlete to come from the school since 1990.Professional career
Bullington was the first overall pick in the 2002 Major League Baseball draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The selection by the Pirates was widely viewed as a signability selection, as the Pirates felt they had a better chance of signing him over other top players in the draft. Then-general manager Dave Littlefield said of the selection: "There was quite a bit of discussion on where we were going to go. It wasn't a situation where we were trying to be crafty. It was more a situation that it wasn't a year where it was one player standing above anybody else, and we felt we had to consider a lot of different factors. We feel very comfortable and good about drafting Bullington.""Being a college pitcher, he's going to be a little closer than a high school draftee...I'd anticipate we're looking at him a couple of years away."Bullington was the first player from the Mid-American Conference to be selected with the first pick in a major sport's draft. On October 30, 2002, Bullington signed a minor league deal with the Pirates, which included a $4 million signing bonus.
2003
Before ever throwing a professional pitch, Bullington was ranked as the 52nd-best prospect in baseball coming into the 2003 season by Baseball America. The Pirates assigned him to their Class–A affiliate, the Hickory Crawdads, and he appeared in eight games for them, going 5–1 with a 1.39 ERA over 45 innings before being promoted to the Advanced-A Lynchburg Hillcats. He made 17 starts with Lynchburg, going 8–4 with a 3.05 ERA. Bullington combined for a 13–5 record and a 2.52 ERA over 142 innings.2004
Bullington was ranked the 97th-best prospect in baseball by Baseball America coming into the 2004 season. He was assigned to the Pirates' Double–A affiliate, the Altoona Curve, and in his first 17 starts, he went 6–5 with a 3.89 ERA, earning him a spot in the Eastern League All-Star Game. Bullington was also named to the United States squad for the 2004 Futures Game, where he pitched a scoreless sixth inning. He went 6–2 for the rest of the season before being shut down. Bullington finished the season 12–7 with a 4.10 ERA in 26 starts.2005–2006
Bullington was promoted to the Pirates' Triple–A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians, at the beginning of the 2005 season. He began the season on the disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis. He made 18 starts with Indianapolis, going 9–5 with a 3.38 ERA. On September 16, the Pirates called Bullington up to the major leagues, along with José Bautista, Matt Capps, Tom Gorzelanny, and Ronny Paulino. On September 18, he made his major league debut against the Cincinnati Reds, relieving starting pitcher Óliver Pérez in the third inning with two outs. He pitched 1 innings, allowing a hit, a walk, a hit by pitch, and two earned runs. Bullington didn't pitch again for the remainder of the season. Shortly afterwards, it was announced that he would have surgery on his throwing shoulder. On October 17, Bullington had the surgery to repair damage to his labrum in his right throwing shoulder. Then-GM Dave Littlefield said of the surgery, "There was a little more damage than they thought." As a result of the surgery, he missed the entire 2006 season.2007
Bullington returned to Triple–A Indianapolis for the 2007 season. He started off hot, going 4–0 with a 1.17 ERA over his first five starts, and was named Indianapolis's Player of the Month for April. In his next seven starts, he went 5–2 with a 3.83 ERA. On June 10, Bullington left a game after pitching only one inning due to shoulder discomfort, and was placed on the 15-day disabled list. He made his next start on June 25, where he got hit around for six earned runs in only 2 innings. Bullington led the International League with 10 wins at the all-star break, and sported a 4.04 ERA with 49 strikeouts and 37 walks over 89 innings. He was named the starting pitcher for the International League in the Triple-A All-Star Game, where he gave up two earned runs over two innings, and was named the winning pitcher in the game after his team scored four runs in the first inning and never surrendered the lead. He made ten more starts to finish out his minor league season, struggling to a 1–5 record with a 3.94 ERA over the stretch. Despite his rough finish, he was named the Indians' Comeback Player of the Year. He finished the season 11–9 with a 4.00 ERA, and led the team in wins, starts, and innings pitched. The Pirates called up Bullington as a part of their September call-ups on September 3. He made five appearances, going 0–3 with a 5.29 ERA.2008
Bullington was placed on the Pirates' 40-man roster and attended Spring training. On March 17, he was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. He got off to a bad start, going 1–6 with a 6.95 ERA over his first nine starts. However, he bounced back in his next two, going 2–0 with a 1.38 ERA on his way to being named the International League Pitcher of the Week. On May 29, the Pirates recalled him to the majors. However, he didn't pitch in a major league game. On June 13, Bullington was optioned back to Indianapolis. On July 3, the Pirates announced that they were designating Bullington for assignment to make room on their 40-man roster for Chris Duffy. When asked about the move, Bullington said, "I really appreciate everything the Pirates have done for me, but I feel like a fresh start with another organization wouldn't be such a bad thing at this point." Bullington finished the first half of the season with a 4–6 record and a 5.52 ERA over 15 starts with Indianapolis.On July 10, the Cleveland Indians claimed Bullington off waivers and assigned him to their Triple–A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons. He made 10 appearances for Buffalo, compiling a 1–3 record with a 4.75 ERA and recorded his first professional save. On September 8, Bullington was called up to the Indians after injuries to their starting rotation left them shorthanded. Bullington made three appearances for the Indians, going 0–2 with a 4.91 ERA. Soon after the end of the season, he was designated for assignment and claimed off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays.